""You knew exactly what you did." The woman said, clicking on the laptop's space bar. Right next to her, there was the video, the ugly portrait iPhone camera style video, showing two girls shouting at each other. Seconds later, the screams got louder, and one of them physically grabbed the other one, toppling them on the floor.

The camera got closer to the two girls just as others ran closer, trying to break the two of them up. Then, the video paused, showing the girl who was on the floor. As bad as the quality of the video are, there was no doubt the victim had scratches on her face.

"I apologize, Miss Aeran." The girl said, lowering her head. Kim Aeran quietly sighed.

"Your reputation and that of EMANON could be destroyed based on groundless accusations from the very fact that you're new to the industry," Aeran said.

"but having a clear evidence of assault would meant that this possibility will become a reality -"

"But it was her who started - "

"Regardless of whether your reasoning is valid or not, Jiae. Mob justice and media often wouldn't care about that." Aeran said. She could clearly see that Jiae's expression turned even more grim, glancing at the man who was standing behind both of them.

"Jaebin, would you mind to let us talk privately for a bit? Thank you." Aeran said, flashing a quick smile. The man quietly nodded.

"Is the video... going viral already?" 

"I think you knew that answer more than I do."

After a brief moment, Aeran's expression softened, and she said, "Your actions are going to affect the girls' reputation too. Right now not a lot of people are coming after them... moreso about yourself and the company because it happened back in your trainee days, but some people just needed to justify their hatred."

"I know my faults and I know right now you are asking me to terminate my contract for your sake," Jiae said. "you don't need to harp on their well-being. I will get the apology letter soon."

"Eom Jiae, this isn't just about saving face. You're very lucky the trainee didn't decide to continue press charges against you either." Aeran said, her voice sounding sharper. 

"Because I had a perfectly valid reason to get back on her, and you know that. She was going to cause a lot more trouble had she stayed in this company for much longer, something needs to be done with that."

"And that trouble is?"

"The same thing that has caused people grief for the past decade." At that, Aeran paused a little. Then, something seemed to have clicked on her, because her expression changed from that of frustration to indignation.

"No one is ever really safe in this industry," Aeran chuckled bitterly. "although I didn't expect that warning to come off even from something so insignificant."

"With all honesty, I don't mind my reputation and leaving this industry for good," Jiae said.

"but for the rest of them, protect them from the same tragedy that gave you and I grief."

"Can I trust your word for it too, then?" Aeran said, pulling a sheet of paper.

"I think you knew that answer more than I do," Jiae said, pulling the paper near to her. In turn, she gave Aeran an envelope, titled 'APOLOGY'.

Aeran sighed. Jiae didn't seem as distraught or fearful as she expected, and with an envelope like that she seemed a lot more prepared than anyone else who'd been caught red-handed getting into trouble.

Much as the things the younger said had only started to dawn in on her, it also quietly annoys her how much funds and PR difficulties that the company would need to navigate around with the situation right now. Not to mention Ymer hasn't been producing anything the past six months due to his injuries, and ANMO's situation would only be more uncertain.

The company would upload her apology statement, announce that they would remove her permanently from the group (which was unavoidable), and EMANON by association would have to tread a much more difficult path in going for their dreams.

As far as bullying goes, not a lot of groups have risen completely above the ashes, much less if such claims were proven to be true. It seemed like the others didn't have any spotty records, but people would believe what they want to believe.

"Alright," Aeran said. "I'll call Jaebin in, and after this, you may leave."

"Thank you," Jiae said. "please keep your promise on that too."

And that too. People can laud her as being efficient and practical, and she completely understood the heart behind Jiae's statement, but it's just so difficult. 

—

"Is everything packed already?" Jaebin said, looking over the green compartment boxes that piled over the crammed living room. The dorm itself wasn't so bad, but having eight girls living in a place intended for probably five or six was... something that Jaebin question quite often.

"Yes." The blonde girl muttered, shutting the last box. Right behind her, there were two girls too, helping carry out items that were still around. They both had somber look on their faces, just like the blonde, but also a little mix of bewilderment and disappointment mixed in.

"Where are the other members?"

"They had some things to do." the short-haired one said said.

"Did they know that you were going to leave?" Jaebin said, slightly incredulous. He could somewhat understand that there was a lot of hurt between them, but to deliberately exclude the others before they could say goodbye was... not something he'd completely understand.

None of them said a word. 

"I wished you had told them about this earlier." Jaebin said, sighing. They probably should've at least expected the possibility of Jiae leaving permanently, but to not be able to say goodbye felt... a little worse than having them watch her leave. 

It would've been difficult to take in early on, but to the least of it, they could have had some closure.

Jiae said nothing but bring up a small suitcase and sports bag, packed. 

"Make sure none of your things are lost, Jiae." One of the girls with a ponytail spoke up, rubbing her eyes. Jaebin noticed that she flashed a quick smile at the blonde, but just as quickly exhaled a breath as she help Jaebin pull out the other boxes.

"I did. Thank you, Hana-unnie." Jiae said, nodding. After this, all they needed to do was to get the movers to get it to the proper destination, and some more paperwork, but other than that, they were done.

"Good luck on your future plans too." The short-haired girl said, not looking at all to Jiae. The latter wasn't always about getting along with the other girls, and what they'd known about her wouldn't have extended all the way to the big controversy. But that was normal, because most of them shouldn't have known either the things that she did.

And Jaebin wanted to say he truly understood where the short-haired girl was coming from, but he decided that there wasn't really any point in going further than what they know now, that everything's settled and there's not much more outcome than now.

He put on the last few boxes at the front of the apartment, and as Jiae waited, a blue taxi came by. The three of them looked around, and the mood became a lot heavier.

"I will go now. Thank you for working with me the past few months," Jiae paused a little.

"I'm sorry for the things that happened." She bowed her head, and quietly entered.

Moments after the car left, the three just looked at each other, with only a rather awkward air between them. No one could spoke a word for the next few minutes, and quietly, Jaebin cleared his throat.

"When will the others come back?"

"Probably in an hour." Hana said.

"I see," Jaebin said. "get them back as soon as possible. I have some announcements from the CEO regarding your schedule the upcoming months."

—

Jiyoo sighed. She knew this was expected, but to hear it directly took a while for her to take in.

"Since it has been a difficult situation for all of you right now and for the company, EMANON as of now will be taking a break from promotions and all kinds of idol-related activities until the end of July, where all members as of current will be able to nullify their contract before the 1st of August."

"Wouldn't that mean that EMANON will no longer be an active girlgroup?"

"The company has perceived that the situation is very unexpected and difficult for all of you even in the upcoming months, so we would like to give you a chance to think over whether you wanted to continue within this path as EMANON member."

And it wasn't that it was terrible - a lot of companies with bad scandals as theirs wouldn't have allowed their idols to nullify their contracts before it completely expires. But the notion that they had a 'break' right after their debut - for a bad scandal - no matter how justified it would be in the eyes of profit, was not an ideal situation for the girls.

Because there's a really high chance their 'break' was truly 'locked in dungeon until contract expires' if they didn't quit.

"What are you going to do, Jiyoo-unnie?" Yoonbyul said, popping up next to Jiyoo and almost taking the older aback.

"Uh, probably stay around here and train," Jiyoo shrugged. "three months is a pretty long time, after all."

"Oh, yeah, would probably be doing the same thing." Jiyoo raised her eyebrows. 

"You're not going back home?" 

"On the weekends, my dad can feel a bit lonely sometimes, but he's really busy." Yoonbyul said. 

"Why don't you go home too?"

Jiyoo thought about it. The first time their manager had said about their hiatus, she was thinking of just being a bum in the middle of central asia, since she hasn't seen her family in almost a year. 

But remembering how ANMO hyped her up as a Kazakh-Korean (and realizing how many Kazakh fans she had on social media), she knew she's no longer that insignificant in the middle of the country, and even if she came from a really small girlgroup like EMANON, there's no doubt the people closest to her would've heard about the scandal already, and they would have had a lot of questions about it too.

Jiyoo shuddered. She's not surprised by the prospect of the situation, but rather the fact that she'd have to face that if she moved back in.

"Nah, I'm a bit too famous now." Jiyoo said, chuckling. Maybe she could improve on her Korean, or read a book, or just continue dancing her frustration away on the company's floor, but three months of 'free time' is quite a long time.

But other than having to explain to her parents on FaceTime and probably a few occasional stares in the streets, staying in South Korea seemed a lot better than going back home.

"...are Aowen and Sammi going back to their homeland too?"

"Yes." Yoonbyul pouted. Jiyoo gave an acknowledging nod.

"When are they leaving?" 

"Sammi is still not sure, but Aowen is leaving in three days." Jiyoo turned away from Yoonbyul, because she really didn't want the latter to see that she's just rolling her eyes. Aowen's one of the members who's really fillial, and not because Jiyoo herself isn't, but something annoyed her at how quick the younger was going to leave.

In all honesty, if she still stayed by the start of Fall, Jiyoo would not believe it.

Sammi was a bit more understandable. She's the oldest and she'd went through a lot with her career change and scandals shouldn't be super unfamiliar for her, and no members had an obligation to take care for the other five, but as one of the older ones Jiyoo kinda wished she could see Sammi taking a bit of charge.

But she's just humoring herself. She wouldn't want a bossy Sammi for the next three months in the house anyways.

"How about you? What are you going to do with your free time?"

"More producing music?" Right. Yoonbyul is talented enough that even if she never really had an idol life, music will always be a part of her, and even if EMANON disbanded, ANMO still have quite a lot of use for her.

Jiyoo's great at dancing, of course, but she's not as useful (or as talented) that a company would be able to use her as anything other than (posibbly, but highly unlikely) a choreographer. She's difficult to get along with and would fare better as a soloist, but her vocals wasn't that good.

It's a shame. It's not even two hours after the announcement came, and the group (and herself) were already thinking of things to do once they disbanded.

Even beforehand it felt like the company was already giving up on them, giving them the ability to nullify their contracts (although in a sense, not letting them rot away in the trainee dungeon might seem more merciful). 

Jiae? She didn't doubt that there's some truth hidden that will never be known by the public, and of course she's not close with the girl so her leaving wouldn't have mattered, but leaving the remaining five members without saying anything was a cowardly move that only served to help herself from having to deal with the grief and anger and questions the other members had.

Which was understandable, but still cowardly.

If she could read the minds of these people, they're ultimately just selfish beings, including herself. People ultimately want to protect themselves first rather than others. 

There's nothing new under the sun when it comes to the human psyche.

author's note : i think one of the most unfortunate parts about this is that i've never really explained what the scandal truly was... which is bad, because it affects where emanon is. but this is based on the perspective of the current members, not really of what happened *winkwink* so remember that.

also hope you guys are all doing well in this time.